Rough and Ready Creek is a tributary of the upper Illinois River. I fell in love with it after my initial visit in 2011 and subsequently returned three more times to paddle this uniquely special creek. My most recent expedition with NWRC guides Nate Wilson and Ryan Saevitz involved carrying our gear for a day and a half to paddle it’s remote upper reaches. The most challenging part of running this upper section is being there when the conditions are right. You need to go in… Read More
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Drukpa Kunley (pronounced “Drook-Pa Coon-Lee”) was a Bhutanese yogi and poet popularly known as “the Divine Madman” who renounced the ascetic life of a monk for a more lighthearted and fun lifestyle. He is legendary for drinking wine, being promiscuous, and using his “Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom” (the nickname for his penis) to strike down and subdue evil demons. The Buddha advocated for the “middle road” between a self-indulgent, materialistic lifestyle and an ascetic life of sacrifice. Drukpa Kunley began as an ascetic monk, but denounced… Read More
As I loaded my truck for another adventure, my anticipation and excitement grew and I started to think about the many firsts in my life. The first time riding my bike without training wheels, the first time I saw a mountain, and my first rafting trip down the Arkansas River in Colorado. Many of those firsts are from experiences I have had in the wilderness around the world. With adventure on my mind, my truck loaded, I hit the road, for another first, a visit to… Read More
Hiking and boating through the cozy river valleys of Bhutan you get the sense that people are truly content. That perhaps there really is something divine to the billowing prayer flags, the nestled hillside monasteries, the distant white himalayan peaks. Nearly all people born in Bhutan remain for their lives. There isn’t the familiar sense of striving, the constant search for something better – such stasis is uncanny for a westerner. The last Buddhist kingdom is classified as a developing country, but Bhutan maintains a wisdom… Read More
Wearing comfortable, functional clothing is important in a wild environment, but dressing fashionably (AKA, looking “steezy”) is also important. stee·zy adj. 1. a combination of style and ease 2. wearing appropriate clothing for a frolic in the woods and looking proper 3. dressing fashionably for a wilderness adventure without much effort v. steezing, -ify [example: “Ryan looks steezy wearing that pataguch hoody”] On the River: Base Layers First we’ll start with the functional part of your wardrobe. Your very first layer could be a swimsuit or… Read More
Up until last year, I had run the Futaleufú River exactly once. A whole lot of people know a lot more about it than I do. But there are only a small group of us who knew the Futaleufú before it became THE Futaleufú. As part of the crew on the first raft expedition on the river in 1985, I had the good fortune to make its acquaintance when it was just a beautiful blue river disappearing into deep mountain gorges, near a town of the… Read More
For many, the rugged swath of Idaho contained within the 2.37 million acre Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness is the embodiment of what the Wilderness Act of 1964 hoped to achieve. It is a place where in the space of seasons, free flowing rivers swell and dwindle, wildlife migrates across ranges of untrammeled peaks, and humanity’s trace is limited to a brief echo in a landscape left to exist as it always has. Yet even now as the Frank Church Wilderness stands as… Read More
At the end of August, I was able to join the last Middle Fork of the Salmon trip of the year. It was my first time down this river that I have heard so much about. It was an incredible trip that I will never forget. I left my house near Hood River, Oregon early on Tuesday morning. I headed East towards the Boise Airport to pick up ECHO co-founder and Idaho Whitewater-legend, Joe Daly. We slowly wound up the steep mountain roads, straight into the… Read More
If you are lucky to run one of the whitewater rivers of the former Soviet Union you certainly will see the most popular whitewater craft – paddle catamaran. These appeared in the 60’s and 70’s and led to the Russian whitewater revolution – exploration and running the most difficult and dangerous rivers in Siberia, Pamir, Tian Shan’, and Caucasus mountains. It also led to expansion of rafting to some remote, almost inaccessible rivers. Since their original appearance, the catamaran’s design went through dramatic evolution, which you… Read More
This summer has been simply amazing. We’ve enjoyed getting to know each of you and your families while sitting around the campfire, leaping off of rocks, hiking to mountain viewpoints, celebrating great lines through big rapids, and more! Thank you for spending your vacation with us. A special thank you to our partners on the Rogue River. We appreciate our friends at Galice Resort, Lori & JR at Sundance Kayak School, and the the BLM. Thank you to our friends at American Whitewater, KS Wild, and… Read More